Steel-wool-making machine



July `1w, 1923.

1,462,181 A. 1. ROTH STEEL WOOL MAKING MACHINE Filed June 2, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet l my mi, w23 y mgm A. J. Rom

' STEEL WOOL MAKING MACHINE Filed June 2, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Juy i7, 1923.

Mausi A. J. ROTH STEEL WOOL MAKING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 2, 1922 Patenten Jury 17, 1923.

UNITED STATES 1,462,181 PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR J. ROTH, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO JAMES H. RHODES & COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION 0F ILLINOIS.

STEEL-WOOL-MAKING MACHINE.

Application led June 2, 1922. Serial No. 565,297.

To all whom t may concern.:

Be it knownlthat I, ARTHUR J. ROTH, a citizen of. the United States, residin at Chicago, in the county of Cook and tate of Illinois, have invented a certain lnew and useful Improvement in Steel-Wool-Making Machines, of which the following is a specilication.

This invention relates to machines for making what is known in the trade as steel wool by taking small lshavings oft' from a wire or band of steel `passed through the machine. While such machines have been used for a quarter of a century with a single wire, no one has, prior to my earlier application, Serial No. 513,374, on which thisis an improvement, been able to build a machine in which the capacity could be increased by making the same tool which shaves the wool from a single wire take the wool from two or more wires at the same time. y

The object of the invention isv toprovidc a machine capablev of attaining this purpose,

which does not occupyl any more space than previous machines or cost materially more.

The invention consists in Such a machine which can be easily and cheaply made, which is satisfactory in use and is not readily liable to get out of order; more particularly, the invention consists in many features and details of construction' which will be hereafter more fully set forth in the specification and claims. 1

Referring to the drawingsin which like numerals designate the same parts throughout the several views:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a complete machine illustrating this .invention in its preferred form.

Figure 2 is a sectional view on line 2-2 of Figure 1, showing the drum shifting mechanism for keeping the wires in position on the table or support where the steel wool is cut.

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional'view of left hand half of Figure 1 on line 3- -3 of Fi ure 4.

F. igure 4 is a plan view of the device of 1 re 3. igure 5 is a vertical sectional detail view on the line 5-5 of Figure 3.

Figu

of Figure 1.

The wool cutting machine proper is con` ventionally supported by frame `1() havingV tional commercial steel wool.

re 6 is a detail view on the line 6-6 with angula'rly disposed tool-holders 26, to

each of which may be detachably secured by set screw 28 a cutting knife or chisel 30, pointed in an in ,clining direction toward the table, so that it engages wires passing, under the set-up shown in the drawings, from the left to right across the table 16 as viewed in Figures 1 and 3 and cuts or planes from them shavings which, when sufficiently thin and ofsuflicient quantity, mat into conven- The vtool carryino arms 26 are adjustable angularly with reference to the surface of the table 16 -by conventional set screws 32.

Mechanism not entering into this invention is conventionally provided as shown in Figure 2 whereby power from an external source communicated to a pulley 34 at a given end of the machine is transferred to the adjacent drum 21, through a shaft 36 and the reel shifting mechanism 37 which is by the use of conventional mechanism 38 and suitable gearing' 39 adapted to laterally reciprocate wheel 21 to keep wire 40 passin oft from the reel feeding directly to ro Iers 42.

Drum 20 which, as heretofore indicated, is substantially tandem with drum 21, and the table 16 is mounted on a shaft 44 parallel to shaft 36 and is drive-n in unison with it by any suitable means-as, foil` instance, the belt 46 passing over pulleys'48 and 50 on the respective shafts so that the power of p)ulley 34 is communicated to shaft 44.

rum 20 is provided with a shifting mechanism 52, operating synchronously with shifting mechanism 38 of drum 21 whereby the two-drums 2O and 2l not only rotate in unison but shift laterally in unison to mainf tain the wire 40 from drum 21 and the wire 54 from drum 20 in parallelism as they pass under the roller 42 and thence over the table mechanism 18-16-18 to the drums 22 and 23.

A conventional clutch operating leverk 56,'

controlling a clutch mechanism 58, is provided adjacent to pulley mechanism 34 so that the power supplied to the mechanism from outside the device through the agency of a belt mechanism 59 may be controlled in conventional manner.

The wire reeling drums 22 and 23 on the right hand end of the machine, as shown in Figure 1, are equipped with identical operat- .ing mechanism, not shown in detail, whereby the operator can by manipulating the power lever 56 at the right hand end of the machine, draw wire on drums 2() and 21 over the| table and wind it up on the drums 22 and 23. Cutting knives 30 are shown positioned for this operation. When, however, the turrets 24 are reversed in conventional kmanner Well understood' in this art, and the drums 22 and 23 lare loaded with wire, the operator can manipulate power controlling lever 56 at the left hand side of the machine to cause drums 2O and 21 to pull the wires across the table from right to left, thus transferring the wire from drums 22and 23 to drums 20 and 21.

Table 16 is provided at proper intervals with a plurality of elongated slots 60, 62 and 64 below which are respectively mounted a correspondin number of rollers 66, 68 and 70, so located t iat only the upper circumferential portions extend through these slots as shown -in Figure 1 and engage wires 40-54 placed side by side to travel in; grooves 72 and 74 provided for them in the res ective rollers.

ulley 66 is carried on a shaft 76 which also forms the pivotal point for a pair of parallel levers 78, carrying at their left hand ends, as viewed in Figure 3, a roller 42 adapted to press upon wires 40 and 54, this under the action of a hand-controlled set screw 80 located as shown in Figure 3 at the opposite ends of thelevers 78 and entering the adjacent table portion 18, The operator can by properly adjusting screw 80 cause roller 42 to press on wire 40 with suficient force'so that all of the slack in the wire 40 to the left of the roller 42 is taken out of it and that portion of the wire which is'at the right of the roller 42 is therefore retained on the table under suitable tension. Wires 40 and 54 are maintained at pro er uniform tension by placing another ro ler 82 opposite roller 70 and adjustably positioning this latter roller on the wires 36 by the use of adjustable set screws 84 carrying springs 86 which press upon cross head 88 carrying the roller 82 in the manner made entirely clear in Figure 5. The tension condition of the wires 40 and 52is also maintained by the ap lication of an additional roller 90 to the rst or left hand one of the too1carrying arms 26, shown in Figures 1 and 3.

By the time the power, which inlthe cycle of operation shown in the drawin is applied to the right hand wheels or rums 22 and 28, has operated to pull the parallel wires 40 and 54 coming off from the left hand drums 20 and 21 under these tension rollers 42-82-90, all portions of the wires approaching and passing under the respective knives 30 are under suficient uniform tension so that they travel under substantially the same tension over the table 16 and under the knives 30 with the result 'that each single knife 30 cuts from each of the wires a shaving of metal ultimately going into the steel wool product and does this with the same regularity and efficiency as though there were only one wire present, as in prior constructions. This is` very essential because if the tool gets a chance to bite too deeply into either wire, there will be a' destruction of. the eflici'ency of the machine; if amore or less serious accident does not occur.

As is well understood in the art, the practice is when substantially all of the wire has been wound olf from drums 20 and 21 onto drums 22 and 23 and the desired shavings have been taken therefrom by the cutting tools 30, to reverse the direction of operation of the machine and to reverse the turrets 24 and repeat the operation continuing these reversals until the final remaining bodies of wire 40 and 54 are so thinned that 'the will no longer stand the strain of being of a certain predetermined width and by the` use of this invention two wires 40 and 54 can be passed under a given tool without increasing its size thereby in effect increasing the eliiciency of tools if not that of the entire machine 100%,-this without requiring any more attendants to run the machine with two wires than to run it with one wire.

The-re are several features of this invention which do not appear on the surface which are really very important in the successful manufactureof steel wool. These are principally based on the fact that when wire is wound olf from one drum onto another adjacent to it, the wire does not straighten but follows a curve which is determined in a large measure by the size of the wire and the closeness with which it is wound. In the mechanism of this invention, advantage is taken of this fact by making the table 18-16-18 in a curve struck about a center lying below the floor on which the table rests which corresponds approximately wire as it comes off from one of the drums' j 21'and is wound onto the other drum23. By

so forming the table, the uppersurface 'of the wire as it lies onv this natural curve 1s more readily controlled under the cutting tools 30 than would be possible were itv attempted to pass the wire over a perfectly fiat table. Another feature resulting from this natural curve in the length of wire is made use of in always passing one wire 4:0 from drum 21 to drum 23 and the other wire 54 from drum 20 to drum 22, the two drums which thus handle-each wire bein-g equidistant apart so that the curve traveled by each wire in passing from one of its drums to the other is the same in each case. This fact results in an even cutting of the steel wool from the wires by the knives 3() which would no t take place wereone wire wound from drum 21 to drum 22 and the 'other wirewound from drum 20 to drum 23 and vicey versa.

In case the device may strike the reader as simple and more or less obvious, it may be stated that the fact is: Steel wool makers using this general type of machine have, for a quarter of a century, sought to put two wires through the machine and failed until machines of the earlier mentioned application and this application wereput into commercial use.

What I claim is:

1. In mechanism of the class described a support for the passage of parallel wires, a pair of wire holding drums in tandem at each end of the support adapted to pass two parallel wires over said support, .a cutting tool adjacent to the support engaging the wires traveling over the s'upport and tensioning devices on the side of the cutting tool from which the wires are delivered adapted to engage said plurality'of wires placed side by side and passing in engagement with the tool to sufficiently tension said wires passing the tool so that the single tool may simultaneouslycut from each wire a steel wool shaving.

2. In mechanism of the class described, a support for the passage of parallel wires, a pair of wire holding drums in tandem at each end of the support adapted to pass two parallel wires over said support, means mounting the drums so that each wire passes from the inside drum of one pair to the outside drum of the other pair, whereby the curves of two wires between these respective drums is the same, a cutting tool adjacent to the support engaging' the wires traveling over the support, and tensioning devices on the side of the cutting tool from which the wires are delivered` adapted to engage said plurality of wires placed side by side and passing vin engagementwith the tool to suf.- fciently tension said wires passing the tool vso that the single tool may simultaneously cut from each wire a st'eel wool shaving.

3. In mechanism of the class described, a support for the passage of parallel wires curved on its working surface in an arc corresponding to the natural curvature of wires passing from coils at one end of the support to coils at its-opposite end, a pair of wire holding drums in tandem at each end` of the support adapted to pass two parallel wires .over said support, a cutting tool adjacent to the support engaging the wires traveling over the support and tensioning devices on the side of the cutting tool from which the wires are delivered adapted to engage said plurality of wires placed side by side and passing in engagement with the tool to sufficiently tension said wires passing the tool so that the single tool may simulf taneously cut from each wire a steel wool shaving.

4. In mechanism of the -class described, a support for the passage of parallel wires curved on its working surface in an arc corresponding to the natural curvature of wires passing from coils at one end of the support to coils at its opposite end, a pair of wire holding drums in tandemat each end of the support adapted to pass two parallel wires over said support, means mounting the drums so that each wire passes from the inside drum of one pair to the outside drum of the other pair, whereby the v support for ,the passage of parallel wires,

a pair of wire holding drums in tandem at each end of the support adapted to pass two parallel wires over said support, a cutting tool adjacent to the support engaging the wires traveling over the support, tensioning devices on the side of the cutting tool from which the wires are delivered adapted to engage sald plurality of Awires placed side by side and passing in engagement with the tool to sufficiently tension said wires passing the tool so that the single tool may simultaneously cut from each wire a steel wool shaving, means for driving said drums and automatic means laterally shifting said drums to maintain the wires parallel on the support.

6. In mechanism of the class described, a support for the passage of parallel wires, a pair of wire holding drums in tandem at eachend of the support adapted to pass two parallel wires over said support, means @mounting the drums so that each wire passes from the inside drum of one pair to the outside drum of the other pair, whereby the curves of two wires between these respective drums is the same, a cutting tool adjacent to the support engaging the wires traveling over the support, tensioning devices on the side of the cutting tool from which the wires are delivered adapted to engage said plurality of wires placed side by side and passing in engagement with the tool to sufficiently tension said wires passing the tool so that the single tool may simultaneously cut from each Wire a steel Wool shaving, means for driving said drums and automatic means laterally shifting said drums to maintain the wires parallel yon the support.

7. In mechanism of the class described, a support for the passage of parallel wires curved on its working surface in an arc corresponding to the natural curvature of wires passing from coils at one end of the support to coils at its opposite end, a pair of wire holding drums in tandem at each end of the support adapted to pass two parallel wires over said support, a cutting tool adjacent to the support engaging the wires traveling over the support, tensioning devices on the side of the cutting tool from which the wires are delivered adapted to engage said plurality of wires placed side by side and passing in engagement with the tool to suciently tension said wires passing the tool so that the single tool may simultaneously out from each wire a steel wool shaving, means for driving said drums and automatic means laterally shifting said drums to maintain the wires parallel on the support.

8. ln mechanism of the class descrlbed, a support fo the passage of parallel Wires curved on its working surface in an are corresponding to the natural curvature of wires passing from coils at one end of the support to coils at its opposite end', a pair of wire holding drums in tandem at each end of the support adapted to pass two parallel wires over said support, means mounting the drums so that each Wire passes from the inside "drum of one pair to the outside drum of the other pair, whereby the curves of two wires between these respective drums are the same, a cutting tool adjacent to the support engaging the ywires traveling over the support, tensioning devices on the side of the cutting tool from which the wires are delivered adapted to engage said plurality of wires placed side by side and assing in engagement with the tool to suiciently tension said wires passing the tool so that the single tool may simultaneously cut from each wire a steel wool shaving, means for driving said drums and automatic means laterally shifting said drums to maintain the wires parallel on the support.

In Witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

ARTHUR J. ROTH. 

